Cartridge-pack for revolvers.



.I. H.-WESSON.

CARTRIDGE'PACK FOR REVOL-VERS! APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. 1911. I

Patented June 26,1917.

INVENTOR WITN By Attorney's, 6km. Q Q 77 JOSEPH H. WESSON, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SMITH & WESSON,

' OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A VOLUNTARY ASSOCIA'IIQN.

CARTRIDGE-PACK FOR BEVOLVERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 1917.

Application filed April 3, 1917. Serial No. 159,388.

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. WESSON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cartridge-Packs for Revolvers, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to loading packs for revolvers, the objects being to provide a pack of cheap and simple construction which will facilitate the simultaneous loading of all or part of the cartridges into the cylinder of the revolver; and which will adapt itself to the cartridge belt of a soldier, so that the cartridges may be distributed conveniently along such belt. I

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the clip or holder for the cartridges is of annular shape, being made of sheet metal occupying a plane transverse to the cartridges and engaging the bases or necks thereof, and having an annular outer portion and inner portions or fingers forming between them recesses for receiving the cartridges; and the clip being sufliciently resilient to enable the cartridges to be forced into said recesses from the center outwardly. In its preferred form the clip or holder is built up of a plurality of segments which unitedly hold the group of cartridges in their circular arrangement ready for simultaneous loading into the cylinder. The segments may have each one, or more than one, yielding recess for holding the cartridges; and may be hinged together so that they may be straightened out wholly or partially to present the cartridges in a regular or irregular row adapted for insertion into the cartridge pockets of the soldiers belt. A suitable construction is one in which the clip or holder comprises two segments each holding (for a six chambered revolver) three cartridges; the segments being either hinged together or independent. This construction permits the cartridges to be carried in the cartridge belt in groups of three. With such independent segments.the cylinder may be conveniently reloaded when three cartridges have been fired, without the necessity of extracting the unfired cartridges.

' shown Suitable embodiments of the invention are 1n the accompanying drawings, where1n,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cartridge pack;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the composite or segmental clip;

Fig. 3 is a rear View tridge being removed;

F at shows the pack with the 'clip stralghtened out to bring the cartridges into a row;

5 is a rear view'of Fig. 4;

Fig, 6 IS an elevation of a cartridge pack, the clip being formed in two segments, as shown in rear elevation in Fig. 7, in which latter figure the cartridges are omitted from one segment of the clip;

F g. 8 shows the segments of Fig. 7 laid out in the positions they will occupy in the cartridge belt;

Fig. 9 is an elevation corresponding to part of Figs. 7 and 8, showing a modified arrangement of clip segment. A

The cartridge holder or clip provided by this Invention is of that class which is adapted to hold the required number of cartridges to load the cylinder of the revolver (six, for example). Such cartridge holders as heretofore provided have been adapted to simultaneously load the cylinder with allof the of the pack, one carsingle movement. The holder or clip is of thin metal so that it may remain in place, occupying the space between the rear end of the cylinder and the front of the recoil plate. When the cartridges are spent, the

holder and shells are ejected simultaneously by the usual eJecting means. The holder or clip may then be thrown away with the empty shells, or the latter may be removed "cartridges bypushing them into place by a- The device is shown as adapted to headless cartridges, the clip engaging the usual V- groove which is formed in the cartridge close to its rear end. The invention is, however, adaptable to other forms of cartridges. The clip A constltutes a segmental ring of flat sheet metal having recesses coinciding with the cartridge chambers in thecylinder, these recesses being adapted to yieldingly receive and hold the cartridges. The

recesses preferably open inwardly so that each segment has an external annular por-' tion I) whichis substantially unyielding, and each segment has also a recess 0 for receiving a cartridge. These recesses have side portions d which form between them a narrow mouth 0, and the-recess constitutes a slightly larger seat portion so that the cartridge is retained in the recess after having been forced through the narrow inouth', in which act the side portions d, (1 yield resiliently enough to permit the entry ofthe cartridge. The segments a, a are hinged or otherwise connected together so that they may be bent together into circular form, as shown in Fig. 2, or spread out in approximately a straight line, as shown in Figs. 4: and 5. The hinged connectionshown consists of links 7, f joining the respective segments. The opposite end segments preferably have some suitable fastening for holding them together when the segments are assembled in circular relation. This, in the construction shown, comprises a headed stud g on one end segment, and a resilient link or impositive catch it on the opposite one, so that when assembled the catch makes a yielding locking engagement with the stud, as shown in Fig. 3.

When the segments are assembled in ciri I cular or annular order the device may be used the same as an integral cartridge clip or holder; that is, by introducing the cartridges into the central opening and pressing them outwardly into the respective recesses 0. Or the segments may be unhinged and spread out in a more or less straight line, and the cartridges being pressed into the recesses 0' are held together in such manner that they may be readily thrust into the cartridge pockets in the soldiers cartridge belt. In such case, unless prepared in advance and placed in the belt, when the soldier wishes to reload his revolver he has only to lift one segmental clip A from the belt with the cartridges carried therewith,

bend the clip into circular form, and, push it forwardly against the cylinder so as to push the cartridges into their chambers and thereby load the revolver.

In the-construction shown in Figs. 6, 7 and'8, the segmental cartridge clip consists ofitwo segments each carrying three cartridges. These segments might be hinged together in the same manner as 1n the preceding figures. There are some advantages "in leavmgthem disconnected, since, if desired, each segment may be used for loading tridges. The left-hand segment a and the right-hand segment 0?, shown with car tridges in place, may be of the same construction. The outer portion 6 is integral and forms the annular base which is substantially unyielding, from which project toward the center the yielding portions or resilient fingers (Z, d which are separated by slots i so as to give them the necessary resilience. lVith this construction the cartridges are held together in groups of three and are applied to the cartridge belt in the order shown in Fig. 8.

The present invention is not confined to constructing the cartridge holder or clip with the annular and substantially nonyielding portion 1) exterior to the cartridges, as such portion might be extended within the cartridges, as shown at b in Fig. 9. In this figure the construction is otherwise the same, the only difference being that the narrow mouths forming the open sides of the recesses c are 'on the exterior instead of being directed toward the center.

The present invention results in the assembly of cartridges for quick loading in a revolver in such manner that they may be distributed in the cartridge belt so'as to lie compactly against the belt or in the cartridge pockets thereof, and without constituting protuberances, as would result were they necessarily to retain the circular group arrangement of the cartridges when ready for loading into the cylinder.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cartridge pack for revolvers comprising segments of resilient metal plate in a plane transverse to the cartridges, having an annular portion, and portions projecting therefrom and forming between them yielding recesses for engaging the cartridge bases, each segment adapted to receive a part of the total group of cartridges.

2. A cartridge pack for revolvers comprising segments of resilient flat metal plate, each segment adapted to receive a part of the total group of cartridges and having an outer annular portion, and portions projecting inwardly and forming between them yielding recesses for engaging the cartridge ases.

3. A cartridge pack for revolvers comprising segments of resilient flat metal plate having an annular portion, and portions projecting therefrom and forming between them yielding recesses for engaging the cartridge bases, adapted to receive a plurality of cartridges and to present the cartridges in circular order corresponding to. cham bers in the revolver cylinder. 6

4. A cartridge pack for revolvers formed of resilient flat metal'plate, having an outer annular portion and portions pro ecting inwardly and forming between them yielding recesses for engaging the cartridge bases,

(adapted to receive a plurality of cartridges and to present the cartridges in circular order corresponding to chambers in the re-.

volver cylinder. p

5. A cartridge pack for revolvers formed of metal plate, having an outer annular portion which is substantially unyielding and which encircles the group of cartridges, and resilient portions projecting inwardly therefrom to engage the bases of the cartridges and forming between them' yielding cartridge-holding recesses, and divided into segments each receiving a part of the total group of cartridges, and the segments united so that when closed together they present the cartridges in circular order corresponding to the chambers in the revolver cylinder.

6. A1 cartridge pack for revolvers comprising segments of resilient metal plates hinged together, each segment having a recess for yieldingly receiving the base of a cartridge, the terminal segments having reciprocal fastening devices for uniting the series of segments when closed together in circular order.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

JoSEPH H. WESSON. 

